Posted: 8/04/06

Federal funds flow to religious activities

By Adelle Banks

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—An examination of the White House’s faith-based initiative has revealed some organizations are not separating religious activities from federally funded services.

At the request of two members of Congress, the U.S. Government Accountability Office spent more than a year conducting a review of federal and state agencies related to the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives. The GAO also investigated religious groups that have received government grants.

The report said officials at 26 faith-based organizations visited by investigators said they understood government funds could not pay for religious activities.

But reviewers found “four of the 13 FBOS (faith-based organizations) that offered voluntary religious activities—such as prayer and worship—did not appear to understand the requirement to separate these activities in time or location from their program services funded with federal funds.”

One faith-based worker told investigators she discusses religious matters while providing a service funded by the government if a participant asks and others don’t object. In a few cases, staffers at faith-based groups said they prayed with program beneficiaries if they requested it.

Alyssa McClenning, a spokeswoman for the White House faith-based office, said efforts are made to prevent such situations.

“The administration is engaged in continuous efforts to ensure that the regulations governing appropriate use of federal financial assistance are disseminated and understood by grantees,” she said.

But the congressmen who sought the review said the results show management of the fund is in question.

“The Bush administration has failed to develop standards to verify that faith-based organizations aren’t using federal funds to pay for inherently religious activity or to provide services on the basis of religion,” said Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who requested the report with Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.

George Washing-ton University Law School professor Ira Lupu, said the overall report showed no widespread abuse of federal funds but pointed out the need for more monitoring on church-state matters.

“People don’t understand that you couldn’t do a prayer service in a government-funded program, that you had to do it separately,” he said. “People somehow think in those groups so long as it’s voluntary, it’s OK. … That’s not the constitutional law.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 8/04/06

Christian graphic novels illustrate timeless truth

By Angela Best

Communications Intern

Robert Luedke loved reading comic books and drawing when he was growing up. A few years ago, he fell in love with Jesus. Now, Luedke is bringing the loves of his life together.

Luedke, president of Head Press Publishing and author of Eye Witness—A Fictional Tale of Absolute Truth and Eye Witness Book Two—Acts of the Spirit, is pioneering a new literary genre—the Christian-themed graphic novel, or illustrated Christian fiction.

Robert Luedke’s Eye Witness graphic novels present New Testament stories in a comic-style format.

“A groundswell of creativity is occurring,” Luedke said. “Creative people from all walks of the entertainment industry are being drawn to be a witness through their artistic ability. The graphic novel offers a wonderfully effective tool for sharing God’s word and story with young readers.”

A graphic novel looks similar to a comic book, but it differs from a comic in that it is usually novel-length, tells a complete story, is written to appeal to an older audience and is bound similarly to text-only literature.

Even though Luedke has had a life-long love of comic books and art, his subjects have not always dealt with Christian themes, since he didn’t become a Christian until he was almost 40.

Always skeptical about religion, Luedke pursued a career in the secular comic book industry for 15 years. Despite his success, he still felt a sense of emptiness and a desire for something more.

It wasn’t until the deaths of his father, one of his closest friends and a co-worker—all within just six months—that Luedke considered that the void he felt in his own life could be filled by a relationship with Christ.

In 1999, Luedke attended Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, where he heard a presentation of the archeological and medical evidence of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The evidence he heard solidified his faith.

“Someone needs to put this evidence into an illustrated form,” Luedke recalled thinking to himself. But he didn’t consider doing it himself until later.

The concept behind the Eye Witness novels—the first two of a trilogy—originated in 2000, but Luedke mulled over the idea two years before he began writing.

He released book one in 2004, and the second volume this summer. Luedke expects to complete the trilogy in 2008.

“I grew up as a lover of comic books and graphic novels,” Luedke said. “If I would have had access to something like Eye Witness when I was in my teens, I might not have waited until I was almost 40 to explore what Jesus was all about.”

While the first book of the trilogy focuses on the Passion of Christ, book two begins the morning of Christ’s resurrection. It follows the timeline through Saul’s conversion to Christianity in the New Testament book of Acts and the development of the early Christian church.

Luedke bases his storylines on Scripture, but he adds characterization, as well as a modern-day action/adventure story to make the novels unique and intriguing to readers regardless of whether they are familiar with the Bible.

On average, each graphic novel takes Luedke 18 months to complete, with the first three months dedicated to writing the story—similar to a screenplay—and the rest spent drawing the pictures by hand and then scanning them to a computer where color and special effects are added.

But all the time is worth it to Luedke, who desires not only to reach non-believers, but also open the door for other publishers to accept and produce this form of literature.

“I look at this project as a ministry,” he said. “The graphic novel is my method of reaching out to young people in a very culturally relevant way and to share God’s glory.”

For more information, visit www.head press.info. News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 8/04/06

One American in five attends
a house church, research shows

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DALLAS (ABP)—For the first time, advocates of the house-church movement in America have solid facts to back up their enthusiasm. Research indicates about one in five American adults attends a house church at least once a month.

While participants themselves have long said that an increasing number of Americans are moving from First Baptist on Main Street to living-room congregations, the very nature of home churches—decentralized, undocumented and unadvertised—has made them difficult to study until now.

In a recent report, evangelical researcher George Barna said 70 million Americans regularly attend or have “experimented with” a house church. That’s an increase of 8 percent since 1996, the report said. Moreover, the movement is taking on evidence of permanence, he said.

“The traditional ways of thinking about and experiencing ‘church’ are rapidly being revolutionized by a form of ‘religious choice,’ in which people are taking greater personal responsibility for their spiritual experience and development,” Barna said in the report.

“Today, house churches are moving from the appraisal phase into the acceptance phase. We anticipate house-church attendance during any given week to double in the coming decade and a growing proportion of house-church attenders to adopt the house church as their primary faith community.”

Furthermore, the study noted, more than 20 million adults attend services in home churches each week. Over the course of a month, that number rose to 43 million. Findings were based on a year of research that included phone interviews with more than 5,000 adults nationwide.

House churches—also known as “organic churches,” “home groups” or “mosaics”—tend to be decentralized in structure, committed to forming in-depth relationships and patterned after first-century Christian fellowship, before church institutions, bureaucracies and denominations emerged.

Some emphasize spiritual experience over rational analysis; others are led by ordained pastors with seminary degrees. Most are nondenominational and include roughly 20 people, children included.

Although it has come into its own in America during the past decade, the house-church model of faith community is nothing new. During the 1970s, the United Kingdom experienced a rapid proliferation of house churches that later conglomerated into larger, more traditional church bodies.

And in communist countries like China, Christians have used an underground home-church model for years. Experts estimate that 80 million Chinese Christians gather in homes each week.

Of course, for early Christians, home church was the only church. The original Christian churches depicted in the New Testament were small gatherings led by followers of Jesus.

Texan Tony Dale, an Austin physician and founder of House2House, a home-church network, said the New Testament teaching of Jesus is the very thing on which house churches depend. Jesus was the “antithesis” of modern church leadership, Dale said, in that he had no social position, no backing and no seminary degree. Jesus simply had “a darn good relationship with his Father,” Dale said.

New Testament Christian leaders were distinguished not by their seminary degrees but by showing kindness, he added.

Dale and his wife, Felicity, came to the United States from the United Kingdom in 1987. They got involved in house churches after their traditional church changed locations and their pastor encouraged them to begin a more organic movement.

House2House, a result of that move, encourages and supports home churches with a magazine, newsletters, books and a website. Dale is an unpaid member of the House2House board of directors. Felicity’s latest book, An Army of Ordinary People, was published in 2005. Together they host conferences and training seminars about home churches.

They also start churches in the Austin area and then “leave as quickly as possible.”

After they started leading home churches, Tony Dale said, he noticed certain intangibles in the smaller, more intimate format had faded away unnoticed as his “legacy” church grew. For him and many others, it’s the subtle things—a spirit of community and the participation of everyone, regardless of station or age—that make the difference.

“Being a Christian has become a series of events,” Dale said. “Christianity has nothing to do with meetings; it’s about how we live. Jesus came that we might have life, not meetings.”

Dale’s sentiment echoes what other home-church proponents have said—that the church model of the New Testament is a far cry from the traditional churches most American Christians attend today.

David Anderson, a former Presbyterian minister, said he had the same inclination when he “began to feel increasingly uneasy about the format of our services and the leadership structures, when compared to Scriptures.” Anderson said the meeting of believers in 1 Corinthians was “participatory” in that several people spoke and others were encouraged to “judge the message. We were not doing that.”

Anderson runs the House Church Network and its website, housechurch.org, which serves as a directory and information board for other house churches. The site, which lists 1,193 house churches nationwide, started in 1992.

The 53-year-old father of six sees “many advantages to a plurality of elders all equal in their responsibilities.”

Anderson said his favorite part of the house-church model is its spontaneity in everything from teaching to the food people often bring to share after services. For the past 15 years, he has belonged to the same house church, which meets at a different house every Sunday.

“The appeal is joy of ministry (and) serving others in Jesus’ name,” Anderson told ABP. “The appeal is that the form fits the function—function being the exercise of the (spiritual) gifts, equipping, ministry and priesthood of every saint.”

While methods differ from church to church, most house churches take the “priesthood of every saint” mandate seriously, allowing children to suggest worship songs and read from the Bible. In Anderson’s group, children stay with adults during the whole meeting, and all people participate in discussions of the text.

In most house churches, offerings go completely and directly to outreach and charity work, since meeting in homes translates into almost no operating costs. Often, house-church communion involves eating a full meal together, and baptisms happen in bathtubs, rivers and—in Dale’s case—a Jacuzzi.

The ordinance of baptism reveals another important tenet to the house church, one which some critics attack as a shortcoming—the absence of a single position of authority. In Dale’s group, for instance, whoever leads a convert to faith performs the baptism for the new believer. Sometimes that freedom means a two-day-old Christian baptizes another new Christian.

And with no pastor, house churches can fall victim to one dominating participant. As Anderson said, “The blessings of intimacy in a small group can actually become a curse if love doesn’t prevail at all times.”

An absence of leadership also concerns some who fear small groups of people could gradually depart from biblical truth and sound theology.

Jim West, pastor of Petros Baptist Church in Petros, Tenn., recently railed against house churches on his blog, petrosbaptistchurch.blogspot.com. West, who received degrees from Andersonville Baptist Seminary and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, deplores house churches because they involve “untrained persons doing a job they have no skills for.”

“If there’s no sermon, then where’s the proclamation of God’s Word?” West wrote. “Frankly, one’s feelings are not a very good indicator of the will of God. When emotionalism dries up and one is left with no more excited feeling, where will those who depend on that emotionalism turn?”

Resentment for past wrongs or hurt feelings from the institutional church drive some proponents of the home-church movement to seclude themselves, West said. Bitterness is not exactly the best thing on which to build a church, he said.

But many home-church proponents say God and the Bible are the only sources of authority necessary for church to happen. Movements that remain simple and “lay-led” will be better able to focus on the Bible, they insist.

Home-group leaders also claim that, historically, heresy emerges as leadership becomes more formal, not when it springs from the grassroots.

Perhaps the greatest weakness a home church faces, Dale suggested, is the tendency to “turn in on itself.” House-church leaders must use their influence for “strong evangelistic” growth, he said. They must also watch for potentially manipulative personalities and lack of love in their midst, he said.

“There are lots of negatives” about house churches, Dale said, noting that “flaky” leadership and negativity can also hamper growth. But he added: “To be honest, that’s true in traditional churches as well. What we do see is that the Holy Spirit seems to be orchestrating some fascinating checks and balances” in the house-church model.

Both supporters and critics agree home churches are growing in the United States. According to the report, the people most likely to attend a house church are men, home-school families, residents of the West and minorities. Dale said Barna’s report also demonstrates the house-church movement is growing more diverse.

“It’s almost inconceivable to me that almost 9 percent of the population last week attended a home church,” Dale said. “This is huge. It’s obviously involving every type of background.”

More important perhaps, Barna says the growth is here to stay. When a movement maintains 15 percent market penetration for at least six years, Barna said, it qualifies as a cultural trend. If his estimates for monthly participation are accurate, house churches have reached that plateau. At that point, it becomes a permanent fixture in society, the report said.

No matter the roots or outcome of the trend, many house-church attendees say they bear no animosity toward the traditional churches they left behind. They look to them as a source of history and a foundation that can complement the trend.

“I am honored to be among Christians at any place or any time,” Anderson said. “I wish the home-church movement could be an influence for true unity. The church should return to apostolic hospitality, which means that where Christians are, other Christians are welcome too.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 8/04/06

IRS cracks down on church campaigning

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

The Internal Revenue Service is stepping up efforts to stop illegal political campaigning by non-profit organizations, including churches.

The IRS is increasing enforcement to stop illegal campaigning during the political season, said IRS Commissioner Mark Everson. The IRS opened reviews of 132 cases of alleged illegal campaigning as a result of complaints from the 2004 elections. Twenty-two cases were closed without contacting the taxpayer.

As of February, 82 examinations were complete, with 55 confirmed cases of illegal activity, Everson said. Twelve of those substantiated cases were “religious leaders using the pulpit to endorse or oppose a particular candidate.”

“The law does not allow charities to participate in political campaigns,” he said. “While the vast majority of charities, including churches, did not engage in politicking, our examinations substantiated a disturbing amount of political intervention in the 2004 electoral cycle. As the 2006 electoral season approaches, we are going to provide more and better guidance and move quickly to address prohibited activities.”

Most of the cases involved an isolated incident and resulted in the IRS sending written advisories, but three cases resulted in the IRS recommending that non-profit organizations’ tax-exempt status be revoked.

Suzii Paynter, director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, said churches must be aware of what they can and cannot do politically without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.

This is even more important during an election year, when political leaders are trying to gain influence through churches by holding events in them and asking to use their mailing lists, she added.

“Churches need to have a sense of their own due diligence and not get caught in the flattery of a political person asking them to do something,” Paynter said.

If a church has a question about what it can and cannot do politically, leaders or members can contact the CLC’s Austin office for more information at (512) 473-2288. For a complete list of government regulations political campaigning by a church, visit www.bgct.org/clc. News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 8/04/06

Texas Baptist Forum

Best candidate available

Regarding the July 24 editorial …

Good word: Character.

Good idea: Call the best person available.

• Jump to online-only letters below

Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.

“This was the worst-case scenario. This was the hardest decision I ever made. The heinousness of a rape is a horrible thing. But I don’t think you should punish a child for the sins of the father.” Gene Herr Pharmacist who was fired by a Denton drugstore after he refused to fill a rape victim's morning-after pill prescription. (The Washington Post/RNS) “Churches have figured out what I have known all along—people are not giving because they don’t have money to give. When the collection plate goes by, they are thinking, ‘I know I should give, but then I can’t pay the light bill.’” Dave Ramsey Christian financial adviser, on why many Christians do not give more generously to their churches (RNS) “People admire what we do, but they would prefer to worship at a Baptist church or a Presbyterian church or that megachurch that’s in their neighborhood. They’ll donate money to us and volunteer to help, but they don’t want to worship with us on Sunday mornings.” Maj. George Hood Community relations officer for the Salvation Army, noting the organization is a church as well as a charity (Scripps Howard News Service/RNS)

But so many times, church search committees would rather be led by their human senses than their spiritual senses. That’s the difference between “what I think we should do,” and “what the Lord is leading us to do.”

If committee members find themselves using the former phrase too much, they might call someone who won’t pass the character test. On the other hand, if they’re relying on their spiritual sensitivity to the Lord’s leading, they’ll call someone who will pass the character test.

Another thing that hampers a committee’s work is the idea that we can only call a young man to be our pastor. Many older pastoral candidates already have passed the character test, over and over again. But human eyesight says, “Call someone younger,” and so the best candidate is turned down quite early in the search process. And when the younger candidate has a failure, there is pain and hurt all around.

The best candidate will be the most open, transparent candidate, the one whose life can withstand the most detailed scrutiny. Committees seem to be doing more screening than ever before, in search of the best candidate—credit checks, background checks, fingerprint checks. Smaller churches are limited in accomplishing this, therefore probably more susceptible to a candidate with a less-than-ideal background.

Bob Gillchrest

San Diego

Most dangerous time

If Hamas and Hezbollah were totally destroyed, there still wouldn’t be lasting peace in the Middle East. Governments that live by the “eye-for-an-eye and tooth-for-a-tooth” philosophy guarantee their citizens won’t ever experience true peace. The hellish wars going on in the Middle East right now are sowing the seeds of hate and resentment that will result in unending future conflict.

The life and teachings of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, show humankind how to break the cycle of violence. Christ’s peacemaking principles have been ignored ever since their utterance over 2,000 years ago, even by nations where Christianity is the dominant religion.

Jesus commanded us to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Jesus replaced the “eye-for-an-eye” old law philosophy with a new and better philosophy of love. Love does the unexpected—turns the other cheek, goes the second mile, acknowledges every individual is important. Jesus taught us to love our enemies and to do good to those who mistreat and hate us.

Today is the most dangerous time in history. We have the nuclear weaponry to totally destroy God’s wondrous creation. It is folly to believe waging war brings peace. Peace will be possible when we allow the better angels of our nature to implement our Creator’s peacemaking principles of love.

Paul L. Whiteley Sr.

Louisville, Ky.

Offensive comparison

In response to Walter Shurden’s address on religious freedom being threatened now more than ever before (July 10), I am left scratching my head and wondering where he has been recently.

In some aspects, I agree with him, but I find it offensive for him to compare Christians who gather together to work against well-funded liberal agendas as “religious right-wing militants.” Christians have rights as citizens, too. Remember how the abolitionists gathered in churches to organize to help free the slaves? What about the civil rights movement that organized in churches?

First Amendment rights and students: Aborting over 40 million babies since 1973 appears to youth as a horrendous abuse of freedom. Huge numbers of their peers have been aborted. The radical homosexual agenda is being embraced. Many youth don’t understand why adults would allow the propagation and acceptance of perverted alternate lifestyles that would bring the downfall of the family as we know it.

As to press freedom: Why would a young person feel good about the media exposing legitimate secret programs designed to protect our citizens against terrorists who want to kill us just so media outlets can profit from a story?

With freedom comes great responsibility. They see too many using their constitutional rights in selfish, irresponsible ways.

Jean Whitmore

Okinawa

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 8/04/06

Churches’ failure to target men causes gender gap

By Kristen Campbell

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Men don’t need pirates in the pews. Then again, the presence of swordfighting swashbucklers might not be the worst thing to happen Sunday morning.

So goes the thinking of David Murrow, author of Why Men Hate Going to Church.

“We don’t have to have hand-to-hand combat during the worship service to get men there,” Murrow said. “We just have to start speaking (their language), use the metaphors they understand and create an environment that feels masculine to them.”

Today’s churches, Murrow argued, just aren’t cutting it.

“My background is in marketing and advertising, and one day I was sitting in church and all of a sudden it dawned on me that the target audience of almost everything about church culture was a 50- to 55-year-old woman,” said Murrow, a Presbyterian elder who’s now a member of a nondenominational congregation in Anchorage, Alaska.

The gender gap isn’t a distinctly American one, but it is a Christian one, according to Murrow. The theology and practices of Judaism, Buddhism and Islam offer “uniquely masculine” experiences for men, he said.

“Every Muslim man knows that he is locked in a great battle between good and evil, and although that was a prevalent teaching in Christianity until about 100 years ago, today it’s primarily about having a relationship with a man who loves you unconditionally,” Murrow said.

“And if that’s the punch line of the gospel, then you’re going to have a lot more women than men taking you up on your offer because women are interested in a personal relationship with a man who loves you unconditionally. Men, generally, are not.”

Concern about the perceived feminization of Christianity—and the subsequent backlash—is nothing new.

In the mid-19th century, two-thirds of church members in New England were women, said Bret Carroll, history professor at California State University, Stanislaus. Portrayals of Jesus around that time depicted a doe-eyed Savior with long, flowing hair and white robes.

Then, around the 1870s and 1880s, came a growing emphasis on making religion attractive to men. The movement known as “muscular Christianity” extolled manliness, and it had its heyday from 1880 to 1920, according to Clifford Putney in Muscular Christianity.

Around the same time, fraternal orders grew exponentially among the urban middle classes, according to an online article by Mark Carnes, author of Secret Ritual and Manhood in Victorian America. Not only did the groups provide men with opportunities to cultivate business connections, Carnes writes, but they appealed to some who “found satisfaction in the exotic rituals, which provided a religious experience antithetical to liberal Protestantism and a masculine ‘family’ vastly different from the one in which most members had been raised.”

Fast forward to the late 20th century, when Promise Keepers experienced enormous—if somewhat fleeting—popularity. Determining the lasting influence of this or any other movement in men’s spiritual lives proves difficult.

But Chip Hale, pastor of Spanish Fort United Methodist Church in Spanish Fort, Ala., said he believes “real strides” have been made with Promise Keepers and other men’s movements. Mission trips and hurricane relief work have also helped to make faith become real for some.

“These guys have really come out because it’s something they can do,” Hale said. “They feel like they’ve made a contribution. … I think men like to do things that they feel comfortable doing.”

But come Sunday morning, “we’re going to sing love songs to Jesus and there’s going to be fresh flowers on the altar and quilted banners on the walls,” Murrow said.

Men aren’t the only ones alienated by such an environment. Murrow insists young people aren’t that keen on it either. Both groups are challenge-oriented and appreciate risk, adventure, variety, pleasure and reward—values some churches “ignore or vilify,” Murrow writes.

“It would look like the Rapture” if women didn’t come to the typical church one Sunday, he said.

“The whole thing would grind to a halt,” said Murrow, who noted he wrote the book for laywomen in particular. “They’re the ones who are suffering most from this gender gap. A lot of women feel overworked and underappreciated in our churches today because they are carrying the load.”

Statistics indicate they might not do so much longer. According to Barna Research, Murrow notes, women’s church attendance declined 20 percent from 1991 to 2000, and their volunteerism in local churches dropped 21 percent during that period.

Churches have to help men and women use their gifts, not just fit them into old religious molds, Murrow said.

“There has to be some stretching and risk or you’re not going to get men, and I think you’re not going to get the upcoming generation of women either,” he said.

“We’re ripping women off by making the church so much about nurturing and caring and relationships, and they’re missing that component that they need.”

Kristen Campbell writes for The Mobile Register in Mobile, Ala. News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 8/04/06

Computers may draw some men to Christianity

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald

Religion News Service

REDMOND, Wash. (RNS)—For more than a century, women have outnumbered men in the pews of America’s churches. For almost as long, concerned Christians have wondered where all the men went—and how to get them back.

Now some are seeing glimmers of hope coming from a most unlikely place—flickering computer screens.

Religious software has become an $80 million industry in the United States, thanks to a clientele that’s predominantly male. According to a survey conducted last year, 77 percent of all Bible software users are men.

For niche-leading Logos Bible Software, which sells about 12 percent of all religious software, nine out of every 10 customers are men.

As devout men demonstrate a holy zeal for study around electronic platforms, evangelists are pondering the broader implications and possibilities.

Perhaps, the thinking goes, men turned off by preaching, small talk and shared feelings in tight-knit groups will be receptive to the gospel when it’s delivered instead via technology.

A man “might be on a spiritual journey and not want anyone to know about it,” said Rick Kingham, president of the National Coalition of Men’s Ministries, which is based near Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

Just as “a guy can be sneaky” to access pornography on the Internet, he said, so also can he seek knowledge of God privately in settings where “being a Christian isn’t cool.”

“I think God’s going to use the same technology and the same system to, in fact, spread (faith) like wildfire—even amongst those who are just on a spiritual journey and are doing it very anonymously,” Kingham said.

But even if men get inspired by electronic resources, they won’t necessarily become more interested in congregational life, said David Murrow, author of Why Men Hate Going to Church. In fact, he says, the opposite could occur.

“It might actually cause men to be more isolated from a local church body because, you know, they’re not interested in the church politics or the sermon or the singing that we offer. They just want to know about God,” Murrow said. “And if they can bypass that bore that we call ‘Sunday morning worship,’ they’ll do it.”

Men say they appreciate the convenience of electronic resources, since they don’t require arranging meetings with other people or lugging around a sack of books. For example, Mike Laird configures his laptop to open to sacredspace.ie, where he gets a daily devotional from Irish Jesuits as soon as he logs on.

“If I’m in (a coffee shop) working on my sermon, I can log on and it’s right there,” said Laird, pastor of North Shore Chapel, which meets in a movie theater in Danvers, Mass. “Before I know it, I’m already into the day’s meditation.”

During Sunday worship, Laird lets loose a manly passion for gadgetry each time he fires up the MediaShout projection system software. The software, which lets religious communities blend music, text and moving pictures, more often than not attracts men to its control buttons, said Jann Saulsberry, vice president of marketing at MediaComplete, maker of MediaShout.

The technologies men love are fast becoming staples of worship in many of America’s churches. More than 60 percent of Protestant congregations now use large-screen projection systems and show video clips during worship, according to a September 2005 survey from Barna Research Group, a leading Christian trend tracker.

That trend could bode well for getting at least a few more men to darken the door of a church, according to Quentin Schultze, professor of faith and communication at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“Men have become more involved in worship planning and worship itself by participating in the use of technology in worship, such as PowerPoint and special software designed for worship presentations,” Schultze said.

However, he cautions that those who run the gadgets aren’t likely to join small discussion groups any time soon.

“There is a general stereotype that men use communication technologies to escape relationships, and women use them to foster relationships,” Schultze said. “It tends to be true.”

Technology alone won’t overcome all the reasons why many men of faith don’t like going to church, Murrow said. Men “are drawn to risk, challenge and adventure,” he insisted. “But these things are discouraged in the local church. Instead, most congregations offer a safe, nurturing community—an oasis of stability and predictability” that appeals more to women and seniors.

But competent usage of technology, he argues, can be a helpful start for churches aiming to make men feel comfortable.

“A church that uses the latest technology to teach and encourage,” Murrow writes in his book, “will be sending a strong message to men and young adults: we speak your language.” News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 8/04/06

Mexico vision trips slated

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

The Baptist General Convention of Texas is sponsoring “vision trips” for Texas Baptists interested in ministry to indigenous people groups in Mexico.

Dexton Shores, director of BGCT’s Border/Mexico Missions, will lead a series of trips throughout Mexico starting Aug. 14. Texas Baptist leaders will visit indigenous groups to ascertain ministry possibilities.

Each group has been identified by the National Baptist Convention of Mexico as a strategic place where ministry needs to be strengthened, Shores said. Mexican Baptists are sharing the gospel with these people groups, but their outreach is limited. Texas Baptists hope to enlarge the ministry of local Christians.

“We’re not starting anything but building off of what’s already there and working with Mexican leaders,” he said.

Shores hopes churches will partner to adopt a people group. English-speaking congregations can team with Spanish-speaking churches to effectively communicate and minister in Mexico, he noted.

These trips are crucial to churches who want to minister to these groups, Shores continued.

“Texas Baptists are never going to capture the vision until they see the need,” he said. “By meeting the leaders and hearing their vision and their burden for sharing the gospel, Texas Baptists will know how they can best join with Mexican Baptists to expand God’s kingdom.”

For more information about these trips, visit www.bgct.org/ riverministry or call (888) 244-9400.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 8/04/06

Operation Knit Together
warms orphans’ feet & hearts

By Craig Bird

Baptist Child & Family Services

Operation Knit Together intends to take the pain out of spring for all the orphans in Moldova. But it’s going to take a lot of shoes, socks and volunteers to provide for the residents of the country’s 66 institutions.

In the former Soviet Republic, “when temperatures begin warming in March, the hands and feet of many of the children who live in government institutions remain swollen because of frostbite,” said Dearing Garner, who is leading the effort to raise $250,000 and 90 volunteers to distribute shoes, socks, hats and gloves throughout the tiny Eastern European country.

“As blood starts to flow once again their skin turns from waxy white, to red, and then to purple. The pain is intense.”

Churches and organizations from seven states have joined Operation Knit Together. The project is a ministry of Baptist Child & Family Services through its international arm, Children’s Emergency Relief International.

Teams of volunteers will distribute the clothing in three stages Nov. 24-Dec 3, Dec. 2-11 and Dec. 9-17.

“Our goal is to personally put the shoes, socks and other items directly into the hands of the children,” Garner explained. “They need this material help but the greatest gift we can give them is the knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We will work alongside local Christians to show solidarity with the Moldovan Baptist churches, as well as distributing gospel tracts in English, Moldovan and Russian.”

A December 1999 mission trip to Moldova sparked Operation Knit Together. “One night a group of children surrounded us to greet us, and we realized many of them were barefoot and didn’t have hats or gloves in that bitter, bitter cold,” Garner recalled. “People started pulling off their own hats and scarves and gloves—and when we got back home we began praying about how to spare children from frostbite. We think Operation Knit Together is what God told us to do.”

From 2000 to 2005, Garner spearheaded an effort that reached some of the country’s orphanages. But when he retired as pastor of First Baptist Church in Kingwood last year and joined the staff of CERI, the vision grew.

While meeting with officials of Moldova’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in planning for the 2006 distribution, “God just impressed me that we could minister to all the orphanages—so we told the government not to even budget for shoes because CERI and Operation Knit Together would take care of it,” he explained.

The census for the 66 orphanages is 12,630—which translates to 15,156 pairs of shoes, “to be sure everyone gets a pair that fits.” Most of the shoes will be purchased in Moldova, which gives a boost to the local economy, but donated shoes also will be shipped. Buckner Baptist Benevolences also is donating shoes. The socks are being donated by a North Carolina textile company, Kentucky Derby Hosiery.

On July 17, the government and CERI formalized the agreement. Valeviu Gilescui, president of the Baptist Union of Moldova, was among the officials who signed the agreement.

Project Knit Together accomplishes many things, said Steve Davis, CERI’s program director for Eastern Europe. “First, it reinforces to the children that they aren’t anonymous to either God or his followers; second, it makes a statement that the United States and its people can be viewed as friends; third, it is critical to our effort to be seen as a valuable partner with Moldova’s Ministry of Education;

“And finally, kneeling down before a Moldovan child with no possessions and nothing to offer in return is probably the best posture possible for the people of a nation blessed with disproportionate wealth and prosperity. Until we seriously acknowledge the value of the least among us and begin working for God’s will to be done on earth just as it is on heaven, we won’t be the ambassadors of grace and love we were created to be.”

By mid-July, churches—mostly Baptist but including Methodist, Presbyterian and non-denominational congregations—from Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and North Carolina were deep into fund-raising and recruiting volunteers, while churches in West Virginia and Pennsylvania were gearing up to participate.

Additionally the North Carolina National Guard has taken Operation Knit Together on as one of its projects, along with two Rotary Clubs in the Tar Heel State.

Though the focus is on the children, Operation Knit Together also will provide shoes, socks, gloves and hats to all the adults who are institutionalized in government facilities.

“Moldova is the poorest of the former Soviet republics and is at the same latitude as Chicago and southern Canada,” Garner pointed out. “The orphanage buildings and heating systems are poorly constructed and maintained, and the government can’t afford to provide enough coal and electricity for heat. Obviously we can’t solve all these problems—but we can provide warm shoes, socks, gloves and caps.”

For information about donating or volunteering with Operation Knit Together contact Garner by e-mail at dgarner@ CERIkids.org; by phone at 210-787-0535 or by mail at 1442 Kingwood Drive #111, Kingwood, Texas 77339 or a participating church. CERI’s website is www.CERI kids.org.

Participating Texas Baptist churches include: First Baptist Church, Kingwood; Bethel Baptist Church, New Caney; Calvary Baptist Church, Erwin; Tanglewood Baptist Church, Jasper; Center Hill Baptist Church, Oakhurst; and First Baptist Church, Slidell. News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 8/04/06

Online music store specializes
in family-friendly tunes

By Steve Woodward

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Imagine rap lyrics without the F-bomb, acid rock lyrics without sex or reggae lyrics without drugs.

Howard Rachinski imagined it all last year, when his then-10-year-old son began to get interested in music.

Although Apple’s iTunes and other commercial music-download sites offered plenty of Christian and other inoffensive songs and albums, Rachinski wanted something that catered exclusively to religious people like himself and his family.

So, he and his colleagues created Portland, Ore.-based SongTouch, an online music store much like iTunes—but without a single “Parental Advisory” label among its 220,000 religious, inspirational and classical titles.

“Our core target market is people with Judeo-Christian values or faith not wanting to compromise that faith,” Rachinski said.

Today, tens of thousands of SongTouch customers are legally downloading 99-cent copies of such songs as Carrie Underwood’s Jesus, Take the Wheel, Casting Crowns’ Lifesong and Tobymac’s Catchafire (Whoopsi-Daisy).

SongTouch—www.songtouch.com—offers 27 musical genres, from Americana to Southern gospel, plus spoken-word performances. A recent top-selling song was Mark Harris’ gospel song Find Your Wings. The top-selling album, at $9.99, was country singer Alan Jackson’s collection of old hymns called Precious Memories.

The website also offers news and features about artists, a monthly video show on Christian entertainers, upcoming music releases and customer polls.

A feature called Showcase lets SongTouch users list their recommendations, along with their comments. Other users get to rate the Showcases. Rachinski says Showcase users often turn the service into a way to help others.

“I just went through a tough time,” Rachinski paraphrased one Showcase user as writing, “and I just went through this music for things that would help me. Here’s what I found that helped me through it.”

SongTouch already is drawing attention in the entertainment world. The website is the only online Christian store that Microsoft has built into its system of exclusive partner stores in Windows Media Player 10. Grammy winner Amy Grant, one of Christian music’s top stars, sent word through her agent that she wants to record spots advertising the site. Point of Grace, a Grammy-nominated Christian singing group, asked SongTouch to feature its music video.

Rachinski is no stranger to Christian music. The former church music minister is president and chief executive of Christian Copyright Licensing International. The little-known company acts as a middleman between 170,000 client churches worldwide and the holders of copyrighted music that the churches wish to use in worship services.

SongTouch, which is affiliated with Christian Copyright Licensing, will be offered as a service to churches that want to use SongTouch’s technology to sell music, including their own labels, on their websites. Christian music is about 6 percent to 7 percent of all music downloads now, Rachinski said, but he expects the category to grow exponentially.

“I have no personal animosity against Eminem or Madonna,” the 55-year-old Rachinski said. “But some people want a safe place to go.”

Steve Woodward writes for The Oregonian of Portland, Ore. News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 8/04/06

On the Move

• Bill Claiborne has resigned as music and administration pastor at Sharon Church in New Chapel Hill to become a ministry resource representative in the service center of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

• Matt Crawford to First Church in Matador as pastor.

• Brian Edwards to First Church in Hamilton as minister of youth, where he had been interim.

• Ed Ethridge to First Church in New Braunfels as interim pastor.

• Scott Fay has resigned as minister of music at North Waco Church in Waco.

• Glyndle Feagin has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Matador.

• David Gage has resigned as pastor of First Church in Thrall.

• Gaines Gardner to First Church in Rockport as minister of education from Allen Heights Church in Allen, where he was associate pastor.

• Jerald Garner to South Garland Church in Garland as minister of music from Southmont Church in Denton.

• Bob Hairston has completed an interim pastorate at First Church in Palacios.

• Roger Hammonds has resigned as minister of education at Western Heights Church in Waco.

• Michael Hardy to First Church in Golden as associate pastor.

• Gordon Hightower has resigned as pastor of First Church in Canyon Lake to join the Nehemiah’s Vision ministry in Vidor.

• Brian Holt to Little River Church in Cameron as pastor.

• Doug Jones to Iola Missionary Church in Iola as pastor.

• Matthew McAnally has resigned as minister of music at Hyde Park Church in Denison.

• Patrick Mead to Fairview Church in Sherman as pastor from First Church in Purcell, Okla.

• Randy Osborn has resigned as pastor of First Church in Lott.

• Michael Patterson has resigned as pastor of Western Heights Church in Waco.

• Gene Russell to Central Church in Bellaire as pastor, where he was interim.

• Glenn Scruggs to First Church in Thrall as pastor.

• Kyle Steinhauser has resigned as pastor of Little River Church in Cameron.

• J.V. Thomas to First Concord Church in Rye as pastor.

• Chris Walker to Hebron Church in Bells as student minister.

• Josh Whitlock to Georgetown Church in Pottsboro as youth minister from Countryside Church in Clearwater, Fla.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

Posted: 8/04/06

Paynter named Texas CLC director

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas has named Suzii Paynter as director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission effective Aug. 15.

Paynter will be the first woman to serve as director of the CLC, historically one of the most high-profile positions in Texas Baptist life. She has served as CLC interim director since March 2.

Paynter has served five years as the CLC citizenship and public policy director.

Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Director Charles Wade praised Paynter’s ministry, saying she is an effective leader, administrator and motivator who has a deep passion for Christ, serving Texas Baptists and making the state a better place to live.

Paynter follows in the footsteps of mentor and longtime CLC Director Phil Strickland, who died earlier this year. Like Paynter, Strickland served as a public policy director for the CLC before becoming the commission’s director.

“Suzii exemplifies the qualities and passion that filled the past great leaders of the Christian Life Commission,” he said. “She demonstrates an ability to lead and lead effectively the ethics arm of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.”

BGCT Chief Operating Officer/ Associate Executive Director Ron Gunter said he is “delighted” Paynter will lead the CLC, adding that she will continue Texas Baptists’ tradition of being leaders in the realms of ethics and religious liberty.

“She will build upon the work of those who have gone before her, and she will lead us to new levels in our work,” he said. “We are pleased and excited to announce Suzii as our new director of the CLC.”

Wade and Gunter consulted with a search committee led by Jim Nelson, vice chairman of the BGCT Executive Board, in selecting Paynter. Paynter was the best candidate in a strong field of people who applied to be CLC director, Nelson said.

“Suzii has the abilities to excel as director of the Christian Life Commission,” Nelson said. “She is passionate about helping churches find biblical answers to ethical issues.”

Paynter served 25 years as a national literacy professional, professor and consultant. In these roles, she advocated for state and federal policy to provide systemic remedies for hard-to-teach populations.

Previously on the faculty at Stephen F. Austin University and Baylor University, she has been an advocate for religious liberty issues, literacy and early intervention for high-risk children.

Paynter has served in leadership in many Baptist groups and institutions. Currently, she serves on the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinating Council and is a recent board member and officer of the Baptist Joint Committee, Religious Liberty Council and Whitsett Baptist Heritage Society.

Paynter has served as president of the Samaritan Counseling Center Austin and is a board member of Texas Impact and the Literacy Coalition of Central Texas.

Her husband, Roger, is pastor of First Baptist Church in Austin, where she is a frequent teacher and ordained deacon.

Paynter earned a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and master’s degrees from Stephen F. Austin University and the University of Louisville. News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.